Asserting that recent ceasefire violations at the Line of Control have "pushed back" the peace process, Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday said armies are not equipped to find solutions to bilateral problems.
"Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Pallanwala sector at 1915 hours today, using automatic weapons and mortars. "The same is being responded to befittingly by own troops", a defence spokesman said.
Pakistan army again violated bilateral ceasefire in the Mendhar sector of the Line of Control in Jammu region on Sunday.
The equestrian statue of the Maratha warrior king has been installed at the Army's 41 Rashtriya Rifles Maratha Light Infantry Regiment in the north Kashmir district which shares its border with Pakistan. Special prayers were held by a priest on the occasion.
Pakistani troops violated ceasefire again on Sunday by pounding Indian forward areas with mortar shells along Line of Control in Poonch district, forcing Indian troops to retaliate strongly resulting in heavy exchanges.
Authorities in Rajouri district evacuated 217 students and 15 teachers from three schools.
The government on Tuesday said the attack and killing of five Indian soldiers was carried out by "terrorists along with persons dressed in Pakistan Army uniform" and India will take all necessary steps to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control.
A 67-year-old resident, Mangat Ram and a BSF jawan was injured in the firing.
The troops detected the movement of terrorists along the LoC
Seventy army installations, including camps, bunkers and posts, have been hit by the devastating floods in the Kashmir Valley but security forces have swiftly relocated the damaged and washed out posts to plug the gaps in the sensitive border areas.
The Union Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh has announced that trade across the Line of Control will start as soon as a government is installed in Pakistan. In all 23 items of trade will move across the LoC. Nine of these 23 items have been proposed by Pakistan and 14 by India. Once started, the trade across LoC will add another significant milestone to the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process. The foundation stone for ITC for trade exhibitions was laid near Srinagar.
In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani on Sunday fired for over three hours on Indian forward posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district, prompting the Indian side to retaliate.
"Since the Hyderpora attack of June 24, there have been a series of successful operations both on LoC and in the hinterland area. We have killed 28 terrorists in this period, out of which 18 were eliminated on the LoC and 10 in the hinterland," GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Gurmeet Singh told reporters in Srinagar.
An alleged Pakistani intruder was killed on Monday when an improvised explosive device he was carrying exploded during an encounter with security forces along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Citing various incidents, Bhatt said that Pakistani troops resort to heavy firing without provocation, they said.
The JCO was hit by a Pakistani sniper near the LoC in Nowgam sector and later succumbed to injuries, an army spokesman said in Srinagar.
After overnight intermittent firing, Pakistani troops targeted Indian forward posts and hamlets along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district with rocket propelled grenades, mortar bombs and medium machine guns on Friday morning.
Pakistani troops violated the bilateral ceasefire yet again on Tuesday afternoon in Hamirpur area of the Line of Control in Poonch district, said a defence spokesperson.
The Delhi high court on Monday said a citizen cannot be detained, arrested, or prevented from leaving the country under a Look Out Circular (LOC) unless suspected to be involved in the commission or facing investigation or trial for cognizable offences under the law.
Chandu Chavan's family said as he is now released, the ashes of his grandmother can finally be immersed in a river.
Against the backdrop of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh on Monday briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the situation there and the retaliatory operations being carried out by the Indian troops.
"So, there was no infiltration of any Afghani Taliban... To that effect, we have been able to control (things)," he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who took his ministers to a remote town near Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday, has said the next month's cabinet meeting will be held at another LoC town of Gurez in Bandipora district.
In December last year, the Centre had decided to construct community bunkers along International Border and Line of Control for being used during shelling and firing by Pak.
Pakistani troops again violated the ceasefire at the border by firing on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night, four days after five Indian soldiers were killed by specialist troops of the Pakistan Army.
The army on Friday intensified search and combing operations along the Line of Control in north Kashmir following fresh infiltration bids by militants and two ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops over the past three days.
Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing in the Mendhar sector of the Line of Control in the Poonch district of Jammu region on Friday morning.
Army officials said one of the four attackers had infiltrated using the gaps along the fence near Salamabad nallah and erected a ladder on the Indian side of the fence, while the other three had a ladder on their side.
Jammu and Kashmir police officials were fired upon from across the border as they were returning after collecting the remains of the Pakistani intruder killed in an improvised explosive device blast along the LoC in Poonch sector.
The Indian Army must be given a free hand to retaliate punitively at one or more places of its choosing on the LoC. The aim should be to cause maximum damage to the forward posts of the Pakistan army, particularly those through which recent attacks have been launched, thereby raising the cost for the army, says Gurmeet Kanwal.
Government will bring a resolution in Parliament against the one passed by Pakistan's National Assembly accusing Indian troops of "unprovoked aggression" on the Line of Control.
On Sunday, a civilian was killed and two persons were injured in the Pakistani shelling along the IB in Kanachak belt of Jammu district, raising the death toll in the ceasefire violations since Thursday last to 12 and injuries to over 60.
The blast killed the officer and injured a soldier who was evacuated to hospital.
Army said the duo was recruited two years ago by JeM and was guiding terrorists to infiltrate across the LoC.
Indian Army sources said Pakistan Army is using Kashmiris in PoK as cannon fodder and Indian security forces are ready to deal with any eventualities along the LoC.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar gave this information to the Parliamentary Committee on Exernal Affairs.
Pakistan on Tuesday held a detailed briefing for Islamabad-based foreign diplomats on the tension along the border with India, as part of efforts to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level.
A top army official said on Tuesday that the assaults were carried out recently as Pakistani posts were supporting infiltration inside India.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on Saturday claimed that he had not visited areas along the Line of Control shortly before a recent spurt in violations of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. "I did not visit the LoC where the Indian soldiers were killed," Saeed, who now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, said in a statement.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said the deployment of the Chinese military on India's northern borders is not increasing day by day.